Ramallah Journal; A Palestinian Version of the Judgment of Solomon

By JOHN KIFNER,

Published: October 16, 1993

Editor's Note Appended

RAMALLAH, Israeli-occupied West Bank—
What Metri Zabhaneh was really proud of six years ago, at the beginning of the Palestinian uprising, was the enormous padlock he could put on the steel gate of his family's grocery store. It was too big for Israeli soldiers to break with crowbars when they tried to force the stores open during a strike.

On the sidewalks outside his store now, as throughout the occupied territories, sights once unimaginable have become the new norm: T-shirts with the visage of Yasir Arafat and the slogan "peace" hung up for sale.

In the Gaza Strip, where young men were once arrested for carrying sliced watermelons -- thus displaying the red, black and green Palestinian colors -- soldiers stand by, blase, as processions march by waving the once-banned flag. In Jerusalem's Old City, along the narrow street by the Damascus Gate, where bored paramilitary border police lounge outside the apartment Ariel Sharon bought in the Muslim Quarter, Arafat posters, T-shirts and tape cassettes are displayed alongside Israeli souvenirs for tourists.

But while Palestinians are exulting in the display of their symbols, there is a deep sense of fatigue, too. It comes after more than 1,700 Palestinian deaths, some 576 of them at the hands of other Palestinians as alleged informers, countless arrests that have affected virtually every family and six years of strikes.

"It is very hard to demolish Israel," Mr. Zabaneh said the other day in his bustling store. "People are being realistic now. Israel is a fact. People have to understand those facts and they did. I think the majority is supporting what's happening."

Ziad Abu Amr, a political science professor at nearby Bier Zeit University, said that the uprising has had "a sobering effect on Palestinians."

"People are tired, people are more sober," he said. "It brought a realization to Palestinians here of reality."

Indeed, a poll taken in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in September by a Palestinian organization in cooperation with CNN and French television showed 66.4 percent of Palestinians favoring the peace accord with Israel, while 29.3 percent were opposed.

The poll of 1,505 Palestinians over 18 years old, conducted by the Jerusalem Media and Communication Center, also indicated that 60.7 percent of the respondents put more faith in the P.L.O. "to save us from the present situation," while 17.1 percent trusted in militant Islamic groups. Some 71 percent of the sample supported continuing negotiations between the P.L.O. and Israel, while 26 percent were opposed.

But there were also substantial fears about the uncertainties ahead. Some 31.6 percent feared the Palestinian leadership would not be able to administer affairs during the transitional period, and 33.2 percent believed it would lead to conflict between Palestinians.

"It is not like we have a foot in Palestine, and are going to throw Israel into the sea," said Mr. Zanabeh, the grocer, as his customers slipped fluently between Arabic and English.

Ramallah is a market town, a jumble of cultures with a sizable Christian population, and many people who have lived in the United States. Women in traditional gowns embroidered in village patterns carry bundles on their heads and men talk of "the situation" over tiny cups of thick coffee at Angelo's Pizza.

A young woman with her head tightly covered in an Islamic scarf glanced sideways, dark eyes flashing, at an obviously American visitor. "Chicago Bulls rule," she said.

Reconciliation with the accord has come hard, if at all, for many young Palestinians, born under occupation and brought up on tales of the homes their families had before 1948, memories polished in the misery of the refugee camps.

"I don't feel good," said a young man from one of the nearby camps, who gave his name only as Saleh. "I was born in 1965 and all my life I have dreamed of seeing my village. Inside each of us is this village, this small paradise. For every family there is a tragedy.

"When I heard what we will get in this agreement, this was the conflict within me," he said. "But the Israelis, they are stronger, they are more advanced, so they will stay there.

"If peace will succeed in the coming future, maybe we will be one in the end. We must give up part to get part, to get peace. It is like King Solomon with the baby and we are the mother who must give up. So let me make my paradise in Ramallah. But deep inside me is my village, inside me is this dream." Emotion and Logic

His friend, Marwan, spoke with a similar, glum ambivalance.

"There are two answers," he said when asked what he thought about the agreement. "One part is the feeling part, and the second part is logic."

"I am very sad," he said. "Because I feel this agreement will be a cemetery for my dream to go back. This is the feeling part. But, because of the bad regimes of the Arab countries, their bluffing, their massacres of us, their betrayal, our leadership has taken this step for our destiny. There is no other choice, only to sign this agreement. That is the logic part."

Iyad Labadi, who runs a tobacco store, compared the situation to that of the man who lived crowded into one room with his wife and children. He appealed to God, who told him to move in the family's cow. On subsequent appeals, God added sheep goats and pigs to the room. Finally, God told him to move the animals out, and, with only his wife and family in the room, it seemed much better.

Photo: Until recently in the Gaza Strip, Palestinians were arrested for carrying watermelon slices because the colors were the same as those of their banned flag. Last month, an Israeli soldier directed traffic in Shati, a refugee camp, as Palestinians celebrated with their flag without interference. (Jim Estrin/The New York Times) Map of West Bank showing location of Ramallah.

Editor's Note: December 3, 1993, Friday An article on Oct. 16 about the status of Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip since the signing of the accord between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization reported without attribution that Palestinians used to be arrested for carrying watermelon slices because the fruit was the colors of the banned Palestinian flag. In recent weeks several readers have written to challenge the report. An Israeli Government spokesman, when asked, said he could not deny that such incidents might have occurred. The Times, in its own reporting, could not confirm such incidents. Given the ambiguity of the situation, The Times should either have omitted the anecdote or made it clear that the report was unconfirmed.